THE EDUCATION OF THE FUTURE—HERE TODAY

It is 7:30 on a Monday morning and McKenzie, age 12, wakes up, kisses her Chihuahua, Ringo, says good morning to her parents, and gets ready to jet off to her classes at an academy that specializes in teaching math, science, and engineering. She attends school on Mondays and Wednesdays, taking classes in pre-algebra, history, and English with 15 other students. Her teachers stay in contact with her, as well as with her parents, by e-mail and a program called SnapGrades, which informs them almost daily about McKenzie's progress.

Thursdays are different for McKenzie. She catches up on work for her classes, works on her weekly history essay with guidance from her tutor via e-mail (and from her dad from his classroom 20 miles away and from her mom who works in a home office), and works on her grammar skills in a self-paced course at UniversalClass.com. Next, McKenzie uses an online math program to help her grasp challenging concepts, reads a chapter in her history book, then meets with her French tutor at a local coffee shop. The meeting is conducted entirely in French since McKenzie hopes to become fluent and one day live in France.

On the same Monday morning McKenzie's 15-year-old sister, Madison, takes her terrier for a walk while she listens to a lecture on psychology from a Pulitzer Prize–winning professor and then a lecture on history from a Stanford University professor, both downloaded from iTunes U to her iPod. Once back at her desk, she puts in a DVD and watches a lecture on geometry for a course. Next she uses her computer to "attend" a class from a self-paced online MIT biology course, then meets with her supervising teacher to review her progress in preparation for the high school exit exam. Later in the day, her language arts tutor, an associate professor at Stanford University who works for the gifted and talented program, meets her at the local park where they discuss Pride and Prejudice.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Madison, who has a passion for Jane Austen, physically attends a course on British literature at Sacramento State University. The professor acknowledges her during the lecture as the youngest in the accelerated college entrance program's history. On her way home, Madison stops at a special event on campus and she signs up for a workshop for aspiring authors, where she'll share the novel she is writing. At home she meets with a tutor to work on one of her college essays. Later in the day, Madison completes a Chinese language lesson online and e-mails her completed essay to her tutor for final editing.

Their 18-year-old sister, Randall, is now a full-time college student. She graduated from high school a semester early with a year of college credits. One of the highlights of Randall's primary schooling was a special online program, and an actual weeklong expedition, with Robert Ballard, the oceanographer who found the Titanic. As Randall was encouraged to optimize technology throughout her elementary and high school years, she is proficient at doing the same as a college student. Driving to her college classes in the morning, she uses the iPhone app Evernote to dictate an essay she'll begin writing back at her laptop that evening. She also uses other iPhone apps such as Study Aid to create customized flashcards, Memoreasy to study more efficiently, and Stanza to access over 25,000 free e-books for class research. Her acumen in combining virtual resources with conventional classroom-based classes has translated into landing a spot on her college's President's Highest Honors list. As Randall moves into her second year of college, she explores many possible career paths. She loves acting and is auditioning for a lead in the college play. She is also on the costume committee and sings in a community music program. The many years of access to passionate mentors and teachers in various fields have given her confidence and have helped her to take these pursuits to the next level. She even has taken steps to launch her own clothing line.

These aren't kids in a futuristic movie or an episode from Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Nor were these girls playing chess at age two, or acing algebra at age six as they raced on a fast-track academic career to MIT. In fact, math isn't their best subject and they struggle with it, like many kids.

McKenzie, Madison, and Randall's education is an example of how to combine classroom-based and online resources in order to customize a learning plan. The Kanna girls call themselves "virtual schoolers." They take some classes at a public school and use the computer or other technology for another portion of their coursework. Their parents, Elizabeth (co-author of this book) and Michael, have assembled programs from the Internet, the community, and the classroom and created a customized education for their daughters under the auspices of a public school. The public school ensures that the girls meet the state requirements for a high school diploma and issues them reports cards.

The flexibility of their education is thanks to a charter school in California. All the classes, online programs, and services the Kannas have accessed are available through publicly funded schools, school programs, and free or nominal-fee resources online. An education previously reserved for the wealthy is now available to all.

Your children can learn from the smartest people in the world and access the best quality curricula and other innovative public resources that together are creating a revolution in the quality of U.S. education.

TWENTY SCIENCE BOOKS IN ALL OF EUROPE

Somewhere around the year 1449, a man named Gutenberg created a new technology that revolutionized how humanity learned and shared knowledge. The printing press increased literacy and supported an exchange of ideas that previously had been denied to all but a select few.

Virtual schooling is similarly positioned to create a twenty-first-century revolution that will change our society. Like the printing press, virtual schooling gives us previously unavailable access, choice, and power when it comes to shaping our children's education. Whether it is access to the contents of a rare book, the best math curriculum in the world, experts in every field of study imaginable, or AP courses taught at an elite institution, you can utilize today's technology to personalize your child's education according to his or her needs.

Just as Gutenberg's printing press expanded the amount of available information in Europe more than 500 years ago, virtual schooling is creating a revolution in education...